A Galarian Cinderella
by AuthorSwimmerPoet
Summary: After playing some Sword and Shield, I came up with a fun way to rewrite the fairytale Cinderella and also feature my favorite Pokemon from the game. (Joltik/Galvantula and Sir'Fetchd)
1. Chapter 1

Cindy was only 5 when her father died. She didn't even remember her mother, who had died when Cindy was only a year old. And now at 10 even her memories of her father had faded dreadfully. Cindy blamed that on her stepfamily. They kept her so busy cleaning house and pampering their small army of Spritzee and Aromatisse that Cindy had little time to think of anything but housework. She was provided no allowance for her labor as her stepfamily claimed that the work she was doing paid for her living expenses, but Cindy never saw her two stepsisters have to lift a finger so she doubted that was really true.

But regardless of the work she was required to do, what Cindy truly was jealous of were her stepfamily's Pokemon. They ran a Pokemon breeding business and were always giving away eggs to their customers. Unless the eggs were from their precious Aromatisse. Cindy wasn't sure what her stepfamily saw in the fluffy pink creatures or the Spritzee that hatched from their eggs, but the family was obsessed with them.

Despite the money they made helping other trainers breed Pokemon and the veritable army of Aromatisse they'd bred, Cindy was not allowed a single Pokemon of her own, or even a Pokeball she could use to capture her own Pokemon.

She'd been told by countless trainers passing through the area that it was dangerous to go alone into the woods or tall grasses that surrounding the breeding center, but that had never stopped her stepfamily from sending her out alone on errands like collecting water from the well. Cindy didn't really mind though, it was nice to get away from all the Aromatisse and to have some time to daydream about a time when she would have her own Pokemon.

Cindy was on one of her visits to the well, when she entered the clearing to find a small Joltik buzzing with barely reined in static energy. It looked quite frightened, though of what Cindy couldn't be sure as the woods seemed quiet and empty this morning.

Hesitant to touch but wanting to ease the Pokemon's distress, Cindy carefully approached. The Joltik buzzed nervously at her.

Cindy held up a hand and shushed him gently. "It's okay," She held out a hand, which he sniffed at warily. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help." Now that she was closer, Cindy could see that his leg had been caught in some sort of net trap. Cindy had to clamp her hands into fists to release the rush of anger the net caused her. It had almost certainly been set by her stepfamily, but why would they want to trap innocent Pokemon in nets? It wasn't as if they had any shortage of Pokemon, or any interest in Pokemon that weren't Aromatisse.

Carefully Cindy began pulling at the trap, trying to dislodge it from around Joltik's leg. Strange buzzes rushed through her fingers whenever she brushed against the Joltik, but she did her best to ignore it in the interest of setting the poor critter free.

Once it was free, the Joltik stopped for only a moment giving Cindy a strong buzz of gratitude and darted off into the trees.


	2. Chapter 2

"Prinz are you sure this is a good idea? Endorsements and entrance fees are attached to the gym challenge for a reason. We don't want to flood the system constantly with trainers, we need people who are dedicated. If you go through with this silly idea, it's going to be trainers at the door to your gym all day long without end."

Prinz shrugged off the chairman's arguments. "It won't be as bad as all that. It'll still be set up as a tournament. But this gives everybody the opportunity to fight a gym battle. Everybody deserves a chance to see what it's like to battle in an official arena. "The rush of adrenaline…" His breath caught. "I just don't want anyone missing out."

Faintheart, Prinz's Sir'Fetchd, chirped in happy agreement. He loved gym battles.

The chairman sighed. It was obvious Prinz was not going to be swayed by any argument he had. "Alright, announce your one and done gym competition, but please let this be the only time, so that people don't mistake the time and interfere with your regular gym time."

Prinz got a thoughtful look in his eye. "Hmm an annual event…I like it. Then everyone in Galar can have a chance to fight a gym battle, even if they don't have money for entrance fees or the ability to get an endorsement for the official gym challenge."

The chairman winced. Prinz wasn't listening to what he was saying at all.

Faintheart chirped in excitement at the prospect of so many upcoming battles.

"Well that settles it!" Prinz announced with a grin as he watched Faintheart prance around in excitement. "I'll get the announcement sent out today."


	3. Chapter 3

FIRST ANNUAL MOTOSTOKE GYM TOURNAMENT! BRING YOUR POKEMON FOR A TOURNAMENT OF ADVENTURE! NO ENDORSEMENT REQUIRED! NO ENTRY FEE! COME READY TO FOR A GYM BATTLE TOURNAMENT UNLIKE ANY OTHER! $1000 GRAND PRIZE!

Cindy's eyes darted across the announcement with excitement, a gym tournament that didn't require any of the usual troubles like money or endorsements, meant it was something she could actually participate in. It was even in Motostoke, the nearest town to her stepfamily's breeding facility. And that there was prize money attached to it, meant she might actually be able to earn some money and be able to buy Pokeballs, maybe even leave her stepfamily's home forever!

The only trouble was her stepfamily. She was pretty sure she could convince Jollee, the Joltik she'd rescued in the woods a few years ago had turned out to be quite the companion whenever she was doing chores in the woods, even without a Pokeball to claim him by. But her stepfamily was another matter. They didn't like her doing anything for herself. They always wanted her to focus solely on the work that needed to be done for the breeding facility. Maybe she could convince them that if she won the tournament she'd give the money back to the breeding facility? It was worth a shot if nothing else. There was no way she'd be able to sneak away for a tournament without them realizing, that was for sure.

"First things first," she murmured to herself, "let's go see if Jollee would be willing to fight in a tournament for me." She took a deep breath. "Then I'll find a way to face the beast that is my family."


	4. Chapter 4

Jollee jumped about excitedly emitting sharp like sparks of static as he sprang about. Jollee had done some limited fighting for Cindy one the few occasions that she'd been in trouble from wild Pokemon, but a gym battle was something else entirely for both of them.

"Come on now," Cindy held out a hand in an offer for Jollee to climb up onto her shoulder. "You should come home with me, I think with my stepfamily seeing you I'll have a better chance of them agreeing to let me join the competition. If I wanted to use one of their precious Aromatisse I definitely wouldn't stand a chance."

Jollee rode on her shoulder quivering the whole way back to the breeding facility, whether with excitement or anxiety, Cindy wasn't really sure. Probably a bit of both of Jollee was feeling anything like Cindy herself with her stomach full of knots.

As the breeding facility came into few, Jollee squirmed and climbed down Cindy's back, clinging to her shirt, but obviously more comfortable staying out of sight.

The door swung open and Cindy's stepsister Gabrielle stepped out. A sneer was streaked across her face. "What took you so long?"

Cindy smiled nervously at her stepsister and lifted the bucket of wellwater she carried. "Just doing chores like usual of course. Did you see the notice about the new gym tournament?" She asked as she drew closer, _Best to just broach the subject of it now, no sense waiting if I want to actually be able to compete. _She thought, but her nervousness boiled like acid in her stomach that she'd even dared to say this much.

Gabrielle's sneer transformed into a leering sort of jeer. "And I suppose you want to compete in the tournament? Well I'm sorry to break it to you, but you can't. The Aromatisse simply can't be left alone for that long and the rest of my family is naturally going to be competing, and winning, so you'll have to stay home and care for things as usual."

Jollee squirmed angrily on Cindy's back and peered over her shoulder in indignation to glare at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle let out a shriek of laughter and pointed at Jollee, "You think you'd be able to compete with that little bug? Even the smallest of the Spritzee could squash that measly thing in their sleep. I almost want to see you compete if that's your choice of Pokemon, it'd be hilarious to see you fail."

"What's all this noise about?" Came the booming voice of Cindy's stepmother, she stepped into the doorway behind Gabrielle, at the sight of Jollee on Cindy's shoulder her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you doing with that thing? You've been expressly forbidden from fraternizing with Pokemon beyond our Spritzee and Aromatisse."

Cindy swallowed nervously. There was no point hiding her intent now, "I was hoping to compete in the gym tournament Stepmother."

Cindy's stepmother snorted derisively. "You compete in the Gym Challenge? What would be the point? You can't even manage to catch a Pokemon."

Cindy's fist clenched. "Because you won't let me have a Pokeball. I've managed to befriend this Joltik and all I'd need is one Pokeball. It wouldn't be as long as it would take to complete the whole Gym Challenge. I just want to compete in the Gym Tournament in Motostoke."

The suspicious look in her stepmother's eyes returned. "Gym Tournament in Motostoke, have you gone made child? Galar is home to the Gym Challenge not a measly Gym Tournament."

"Actually Mother they did just announce a new tournament." Gabrielle's cheeks were faintly pink, and Cindy was sure Gabrielle was only correcting her mother to give herself a chance to compete. If it was something that only Cindy had wanted to participate in she was sure her stepsister would have lied to make Cindy look like an idiot.

"Hmm," Cindy's stepmother responded looking unconvinced.

"Please Gwyendolyn and I, do so want to show off what the Aromatisse can do. Please."

Cindy sighed and turned away. There was no chance she was going to be able to participate if her stepmother wasn't even sure if she wanted her own daughters to compete. "Come along Jollee," She murmured, though with Jollee riding on her shoulder it was unlikely he'd darted away somewhere else, "Let's get my chores finished up."


	5. Chapter 5

The chairman tossed Prinz what looked like a Timer Ball, quickly followed by a Dusk Ball. "Do me a favor, since you were going out and about anyways take those two down to the breeders. I want a Pokemon Egg for my son to raise."

Prinz rolled his eyes, he wasn't sure why the chairman always treated him like some sort of lackey that had to do his bidding, but still, he was planning on going out into the woods today…

Faintheart chirped impatiently at his side and bashed his leek impatiently on the floor, his equivalent to a stomp.

Prinz ruffled the tuft of feathers on top of Faintheart's head affectionately. They were going to go into the forest for some training before the tournament started and Faintheart hated any delays to battling.

"Let's go buddy."

Faintheart squawked and raced for the door.


	6. Chapter 6

The girl leaned across the counter, she seemed to be trying to impress Prinz by displaying her breasts as oozingly as possible. "What can I do for you young, sir?" She flashed a lewd smile in conjunction with the question.

Prinz fought back a shudder as he pulled the chairman's Pokeballs from his pocket. "I've got these to drop off." He set them on the counter as far from the girl and her chest as possible.

The girl sighed, seemingly disappointed that he hadn't given some other response to her display. She snatched the Pokeballs from the counter and turned away. She tucked the Pokeballs away on a shelf and snatched a piece of paper that she set on the counter in front of Prinz. "You'll have to sign this release form. It basically says you won't hold us liable if your Pokemon fail to reproduce. Or reproduce too much." She grinned wickedly and Prinz fought back another shudder.

He scanned the document briefly, there didn't seem to be too much to it, it basically stated what the girl had, although in a bit more euphemistic of language. "Does it matter if I'm dropping off someone else's Pokemon for the breeding."

The girl shrugged. "I could ask Gabrielle or Mama, but I'm sure it doesn't matter too much legally."

Prinz eyed the girl uncertainly. That didn't seem like it could possibly be true. "Look maybe you should just give the Pokeballs back to me and I'll have my friend come by later and sign so everything's done legally. I don't want to get in trouble signing for someone else's Pokemon."

The girl scowled, but before she could raise a fuss, a voice called briskly, "Gwendolyn, oh Gwendolyn!"

There was a light tinkling sound as a bell rang, in response to the door that must have led to the back of the breeding facility opened.

A tall and rather large woman bustled into the space behind the counter. "Is it true, dear? Do you and Gabrielle really want to join in that silly gym tournament."

The girl, Gwendolyn, Prinz supposed from the name the woman had been calling, turned away from Prinz and nodded vigorously at the woman. "Oh do we ever Mama."

The woman sighed and gave Gwendolyn a displeased look. "Why must you two always fuss about these sorts of things."

"Oh please Mama," Gwendolyn clasped her hands in a begging gesture. "It would be ever such good practice for when we do the real Gym Challenge. You do want us to become Pokemon Champions don't you?"

"Um excuse me?" Prinz interrupted doing his best to keep his impatience in check. "I'd like those Pokemon back please, since I need my friend to come back to be able to get the paperwork signed."

Gwendolyn glared at him and the woman turned to stare down her nose at Prinz apparently noticing him for the first time. "What Pokemon?" She asked disgust coloring her tone.

Prinz pointed to the Pokeballs Gwendolyn had placed on the shelf. "Those two there. My friend had asked me to drop them off, but Gwendolyn kindly explained there was paperwork and I didn't want to sign something illegally." Prinz struggled to keep the annoyance from his voice. How was this breeding facility even still in business if these two were in charge?


End file.
